Selected quad for the lemma: cause_n

Word A	Word B	Word C	Word D	Occurrence	Frequency Band	MI	MI Band	Prominent
cause_n	church_n	good_a	great_a	3,182	5	2.6384	3	true

Text snippets containing the quad

ID	Title	Author	Corrected Date of Publication (TCP Date of Publication)	STC	Words	Pages
A23644	A gainful death the end of a truly Christian life a sermon at the funeral of Mr. John Griffith, late minister of the Gospel, who departed this life May 16, in the 79th year of his age / preached May the 20th, 1700 by Richard Allen.	Allen, Richard.	1700 (1700)	Wing A1041; ESTC R28091	13,910	48

our Souls in which we were made but little inferior to Angels before our Bodies in which we are little superior to Beasts to give the Preference to Heaven above Earth to Eternity above Time to prefer solid and endless Joys and Felicities before empty and perishing Pleasures and then the result of its Determination must surely be that the seriously religious Person is the only wise one And 2. 'T is on the contrary the greatest folly to neglect that Life which alone will end in this gainful Death O what stupendous folly is it to make light of Christ Mat. 20 2-5 who must be our Life if ever we live indeed 'T is great folly in any measure to neglect but what unaccountable Madness is it wholly to neglect this great Salvation Nor is it less folly for any to satisfy themselves with the Name without the Life of Christianity with a mere Form without the Power of Godliness for any to please themselves because they eat in Christ's Presence and sit at his Table tho they secretly work Iniquity and indulge themselves in worldly and fleshly Lusts Such have no part or lot in this whole matter However such Hypocrites may now flatter themselves with a vain expectation of Happiness tho they are regardless of that sincere Holiness which is the only way to it this their Hope shall at last utterly perish and be suddenly cut off Job 8.14 and their Trust will be as a Spider's Web. Tho they feed upon Ashes Isa 44.20 and carry a Lie in their right-hand and are so turn'd aside by a deceived and flattering Heart as to entertain no serious thoughts of securing and delivering their Souls they shall at length be rouz'd out of this delusory Dream However they have lull'd their Consciences asleep fancying themselves spiritually rich by reason of their Profession and external Privileges they shall not by all their empty Pleas be able to deceive their all-knowing Judg nor appease him who will then be inexorable to their most earnest Intreaties but with wrathful Countenance he will profess to them Mat. 7.23 saying I never knew you Depart from me ye that work Iniquity Death will not be to them any Gain but the end of all their Delights and the beginning of never-dying Sorrows and Woes 3. Seeing none shall be admitted into Heaven but those who have Christ for their Life as far as in us lies we should admit and retain no other in Christ's Church which ought to be an Emblem of Heaven upon which account 't is often call'd the Kingdom of Heaven Such as make Christ's Laws the Rule of their Life Christ's Life the Pattern of theirs and make his Glory and Interest their ultimate End and Design these are the only Persons likely to be a Reputation to or receive benefit by Church Communion One scandalous Sinner being indulg'd in the Church tho but a little Leven yet leveneth the whole lump that is 1 Cor. 5.6 renders the whole Church guilty by their abetting of him It is a horrid Reproach to our holy Religion to suffer any such in Christian Communion and much more is it so if such a one should be a magnified Teacher in any Society of Christians as several of the Greek Fathers tell us Theodoret Chrysostom c. Vid. Poli Synopsin in locum Ver. 2 6. that incestuous Fornicator amongst the Corinthians was and that therefore they were puffed up from a conceit of his applauded Eloquence and profound Learning instead of mourning and being humbled and gloried in their connivance at his Wickedness instead of being asham'd of it Heb. 12.15 16. Look diligently saith the Apostle to the Christian Church lest any root of bitterness be suffer'd to spring up and be not rooted out lest there be any Fornicator or profane Person and thereby many be defiled 4. This should perswade all that have Christ for their Life to love one another Joh. 3.3 All such are born * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Heb. 11.13 from above and therefore are but Strangers and Pilgrims here below The whole time of their continuance upon Earth is but the time of their sojourning here 1 Pet. 1.17 They are in the World as well as others but they are not of it but are God's elect ones and peculiar Treasure being by their gracious Redeemer chosen out of the World Joh. 15.19 and therefore the World hates them and carries it strangely towards them and they likewise are in the Temper of their Hearts and in the Deportment of their Lives alienated from the World And because they are Strangers on Earth Eph. 2.19 they are no more Strangers and Foreigners in Heaven but fellow Citizens with the Saints and of the Houshold of God As therefore Natives of the same Country tho they may have little acquaintance and familiarity while at home yet are much endeared in their mutual Affections by meeting together in a strange Land especially if it be withal a barbarous Country where they are Partners in Sufferings and Hardships so Christians considering they are all fellow Travellers thro a wast howling Wilderness to the Celestial Canaan should take that excellent Counsel good Joseph gave his Brethren Gen. 45.24 See that ye fall not out by the way If Christ be our Life then we are all Members of one Body Ephes 4.4 and Partakers of one Spirit and call'd in one hope of our Calling we are then all Subjects and Disciples of one Lord Ver. 5. and have in respect of the saving Essentials but one Faith and are all the Children of one God and Father all which are very uniting and endearing Considerations But especially if besides all this we are visibly initiated into Christ's Church by that one Baptism which he instituted different Apprehensions about more disputable Matters of Religion should not hinder us from jointly and studiously endeavouring Ver. 3. to keep the most close Vnity of the Spirit in the Bond of Peace 5. This yields great Support when our Godly Friends and Relations are taken from us by the hand of Death We may then indeed have manifold cause to mourn but not to sorrow as others who have no hope 1 Thess 5.13 seeing they are only fallen asleep in Jesus they shall certainly awake and be for ever with the Lord. You the surviving Relations of this our deceased Father have cause to mourn for your Loss and the Church of Christ hath great cause to mourn for hers but you have both great ground of Support in that God continued him with you to a good old Age and especially in that his hoary Head was a Crown of Glory Prov. 16.31 being found in the way of Righteousness He liv'd near fourscore years and more than threescore of them were solemnly and we have just reason to believe sincerely devoted to the Lord Jesus in his Church Yea he had been as I am certainly inform'd about fifty four years a Pastor or

Bishop under the great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls About fourteen years of which time he spent in Sufferings Bonds and Imprisonments for his Lord and in the Testimony of a good Conscience He was indeed in my opinion and in the opinion of several other Christians somewhat too strait and narrow in his Notions concerning the terms of Church-Communion but even this we have good reason to think proceeded from his sincere Zeal and tender respect to the Laws of the blessed Jesus I know of no dishonour or blemish he brought upon our holy Religion in his so long Profession of it but he was I think in general an Ornament and Reputation to it He bore his long Sickness and Pains with much Patience and Submission to the Divine Will and to the last rejoiced in full assurance of hope He being conscious that Christ was his Life thereupon comfortably concluded that Death would be his Gain We have good ground through Grace to believe him among those blessed Ones who died in the Lord Rev 14.13 who rest from their Labours and their Works follow them And that he will hear that joyful Sentence Mat. 25.21 c. Well done good and faithful Servant Enter thou into the Joy of thy Lord. Where we leave him And In the last place Let us labour to be Followers of him so far as he followed Christ and of all others who through Faith and Patience inherit the Promises Heb. 6.12 Let us give all diligence and labour with a holy Ambition to grow in Grace and Holiness and thereby make our Calling and Election sure 2 Pet. 1 5-11 that so we may have an Entrance abundantly ministred to us into the everlasting Kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ This antient Minister of Christ now laying in the Dust liv'd indeed to be full of days but who of you can promise your selves to be herein like him James 4.14 For what is your Life it is even a Vapour that appeareth for a little time and then vanisheth away O remember that the youngest and strongest and the most healthy walk but in a vain shew Psal 39.5 6. and at their best * 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Stans vel stabilis most establish'd State are altogether Vanity Let us therefore earnestly pray and labour so to number our days Psal 90.12 and consider the great uncertainty of our Life that we may apply our Hearts to Divine and Heavenly Wisdom We see many of our dear Friends and Relations suddenly cut off as a Flower and snatch'd from us let us bless God for the good hope we have thro Grace of their being ready and let us pray and labour that we may be also ready Mat. 24.44 because our Lord assures us he will come in such an hour as we think not I close all with the Apostle's concluding Exhortation and Desire Therefore my beloved Brethren 1 Cor. 15.58 be ye stedfast unmovable always abounding in the Work of the Lord forasmuch as ye know that your Labour is not in vain in the Lord. And we desire that every one of you do shew the same diligence Heb. 6.11 to the full assurance of hope unto THE END Errat Pag. 7. read 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 and 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 〈◊〉 Sold by Andr. Bell at the Cross Keys and Bible in Cornhil and M. Fabian at Mercer's Chappel in Cheapside AN ESSAY to prove Singing of Psalms with conjoyn'd Voices a Christian Duty and to resolve the Doubts concerning it And A Brief Vindication of the said Essay Both by Rich. Allen. Hymns in Commemoration of the Sufferings of our blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ compos'd for the Celebration of his holy Supper A new Version of Solomon's Song of Songs together with the 45th Psalm The Groans of a Saint under the Burden of a mortal Body Being a Funeral Sermon on Mr. John Belcher These by Joseph Stennett